An electrical harness or cable harnesses or loom is the ‘bundle’ of wires that carries electricity or signals from one point to another – they are the backbone, the highway, the network within a product or vehicle.
Harnesses range from very simple configurations to extremely complex and expensive assemblies.
To assemble a harness individual wires are first cut to length, typically with an automated wire-cutting machine. In many cases the wires are also marked with an identified or part number. The next stage involves stripping the wire ends of their plastic cover so that the metal wire (the core) is exposed. In some cases ends are then terminated with connectors before the next (assembly) step, in other cases termination is completed during the assembly process.
During the assembly process the individual wires are routed on a special workbench or assembly board, according to the design specification. The assembly board illustrates what wire goes where, what route it followed, where clamps, etc are added and what type and where connectors are placed.
As wires are routed they are fitted with protective sleeves, conduit, or extruded yarn. Wires are bundled to form a single wire pack.
The overall process is very labour intense and the application of automated process is limited. The majority of automated steps occurs in pre-assembly, preparing the wires before they move to the assembly phase.
These steps include: :
· Cutting individual wires to length,
· Wire stripping,
· Twisting wires,
· Crimping terminals,
· Soldering wire ends.
The one significant process yet to be described is the electrical testing of the harness. This process can be, using the EZX product line, automated, not only to test harnesses but to capture results, quality and operator data as well as manufacturing efficiency and assembly KPIs.
The EZX platform has a number of features that help automate the test process driving quality, data collection, efficiency and production metrics.
With features such as auto start, bar code scanning, low and high voltage testing, data storage and more the EZX is the ideal benchtop tester for cable and harness manufacturing.
For more information please contact us at NexeyaCanada@Nexeya.com.
Kommentare